A round of immigration arrests in southeastern Wisconsin are part of a nationwide enforcement push — Forward Latino National President Darryl Morin said it’s been very frightening for communities and families of those being detained. Off-highway all-terrain and side-by-side utility vehicles are very popular around the state, but DNR conservation warden Jake Holsclaw stresses the importance of abiding by safety rules as crashes spike. The Fond du Lac area is grappling with a shortage of working-age residents and Sadie Howell, the president of Envision Greater Fond du Lac said an incentive program to attract workers has proved wildly successful.

Darryl Morin
National President, Forward Latino

• The number of detentions in Milwaukee, Waukesha and elsewhere in Wisconsin in a surge of immigration enforcement arrests was confirmed to be at least 39 as of July 7, according to Morin. He said the actions of federal agents are frightening, describing how people with children and infants in their vehicles have been being violently pulled out and thrown to the ground. Morin added that those arrested include U.S. citizens. He said it makes him frustrated and angry.
• Morin: “It would be different if they were going around and detaining people who were bad doers in the community. But we’re continuing to see that operations are continuously targeted at people, for the most part, who’ve been trying to do everything the right way, who filled out all their asylum papers, have been showing up to all their court dates, et cetera, that came here with TPS only to see it removed from them. So it’s really been a very dark time for many in our community, and we appreciate the support that we’re seeing come from all other communities throughout the state and the country, quite honestly.”

Jake Holsclaw
Conservation warden, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

• Wisconsin has the most registered off-highway vehicle registrations in the nation, with more than a half million in 2026. Riders of these vehicles enjoy thousands of miles of ATV and UTV routes that span the state. Holsclaw said the popularity of the activity comes with safety concerns amid a steady rise in injury and fatalities that result from crashes involving these vehicles.
• Holsclaw: “A number of our crashes are going to be alcohol or drug related. The majority of them would be alcohol related when we’re looking at some kind of substance, so to speak, that is causing folks to crash. And so I think folks need to remember that just like the motor vehicle world, you really need to make a smart decision and realize that even with these recreational vehicles like ATVs and UTVs, maybe even more so, they’re a very dynamic machine and folks have to be — you want to be on your best, right? You want your mind to be working the best. You want your body, your reaction time, to be working the best when you’re out operating these. One of the other things is that people need to remember, I think they sometimes forget that these machines handle differently on paved surfaces and roadways.”

Sadie Howell
President & CEO, Envision Greater Fond du Lac

• Like many communities in Wisconsin, employers in Fond du Lac are increasingly experiencing a shortage of workers and are worried about projected dips in the community’s working-age population in coming years. To combat that, the local chamber of commerce alongside the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. are promoting a program to incentivize people to move to the county at the south end of Lake Winnebago. Called Make My Move, the program offers $9,500 to individuals from out-of-state to move to Fond du Lac if they maintain their remote jobs. Howell said the program has proved extremely successful.
• Howell: “We actually just got our new statistics yesterday and 1,700 people from around the country have expressed interest — 900 of them have applied to move to Fond du Lac County. And then from those, it’s trickled down a little bit. We have six accepted movers already. We launched this May 14. So about a month and a half, two months almost in, we have six people already moving. One person already purchased a home in Fond du Lac County. So it’s, it’s incredible, it’s really incredible. What Make My Move does and why they have been a great partner, we’ve been working with them for about 6 to 9 months on creating all of the storytelling of why would somebody want to live in Fond du Lac County. So they sell the community first and then people apply. So we are resonating with an incredible number of people from around the country who want to come and live here.”

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